TMW #10: Review of the Year Part 3
Our countdown of 2024's best films continues; Aaron Pierre talks Mufasa and Rebel Ridge; musings on a lack of box-office imagination; and a quiz on animal royalty
Greetings film fans,
It may be nippy outside, but things are heating up in The Movie Wingman’s Review of the Year. This week we’re revealing numbers 10-6 in our countdown of the best films of 2024. We’re also speaking to Mufasa: The Lion King star Aaron Pierre, our breakout of the year following his star-making turn in Rebel Ridge. Be sure to scroll down for that.
Want to remind yourself of the films that have already charted? You can find numbers 20-16 here, and numbers 15-11 here. And if you’re a paid subscriber be sure to let us know about your loves and loathes from this stretch of the list in the comments below. Next week we’ll be opening up the Wingman chat to all for a full films of the year discussion, so watch out for that from Tuesday.
Before we dive into the list, a quick reminder that the paywall has now been erected. Want more Wingman in your life? Upgrade to a monthly or annual sub for the full experience. This week we’re investigating a rather imaginative 2024 trend, framing the five best film posters of the year and there’s the weekly Wingman quiz to test your movie knowledge.
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We’ll be back on Friday with reviews of Better Man, Mufasa, The Order and more. Until then, stay frosty.
Jordan (Matthew and Matt)
Review of the Year Part 3
10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
If there’s a problem with Furiosa it’s that it isn’t Fury Road. But mad mastermind George Miller makes a virtue of those differences in telling the years-spanning saga of the future-Imperator Furiosa (played by Alyla Brown and Anya Taylor-Joy). Following the young road warrior from her abduction at the hands of Chris Hemsworth’s desert tyrant Dementus, it’s a near-mythical revenge story fuelled by ‘guzzolene’ and rage. If Taylor-Joy isn’t quite a match for Theron in the role, Hemsworth leaves an unforgettable impression under mounds of prosthetics. But the unquestionable highlights are the breath-snatching action set-pieces, including mid-film standout ‘Stowaway to Nowhere’ - a full-throttle 15-minute tanker pursuit that rivals (and arguably bests) anything in Fury Road. Mediocre, this ain’t. (JF)
STANDOUT SCENE: Stowaway rules, but Miller proves he doesn’t need vehicles to thrill with the Bullet Farm ambush.
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K, and to rent and buy digitally
9. The Substance
The highest-placed horror on our list, Coralie Fargeat’s full-on body shocker might be the most squirm-inducingly icky film of its ilk since Cronenberg’s heyday. Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former superstar actress who’s been left behind by Hollywood. Salvation comes in the form of a mysterious ‘substance’, which literally births a younger, better Elisabeth called Sue (Margaret Qualley) from a rupture in Elisabeth’s back. The only rule? The balance must be respected. A film about the violence inflicted on women’s bodies in a patriarchal society, The Substance is both a high-minded satire, directed with the hyper-real world-building nous of a Ridley Scott or a Denis Villeneuve, and a film in which Margaret Qualley pulls a chicken drumstick from her belly button. Contradictions abound, but one thing is not in question: The Substance is a major work. (JF)
STANDOUT SCENE: In an effort to keep this spoiler-free, let’s just say New Year’s Eve is a red-letter day in more ways than one in The Substance.
Available on Mubi, and to rent and buy digitally
8. Poor Things
Splicing Frankenstein science with a feminist fairytale, Yorgos Lanthimos’ outrageous, surreal adaptation of Aladair Grey’s faux-Victorian novel introduces the world to Bella Baxter, a truly wonderful creation. Bella - who is the brain of a baby inserted into the body of her late mother - starts as a naive pleasure-seeker, before slowly learning about the restrictions that society would shackle her with. Emma Stone fully earned her second Oscar with her madcap physicality and deadpan dialogue delivery, while the supporting players (including an extremely game Mark Ruffalo) all understood the assignment. Director Yorgos Lanthimos is fully in control of his weird world, with the off-kilter visuals, discordant score and Oscar-winning costumes all working together in unhinged harmony. (MM)
STANDOUT SCENE: The ultra-awkward dinner party that spins into a like-no-one’s-watching dance session.
Available on Disney+, and on DVD, Blu-ray
7. Anora
Strip out the strip-club scenes, the swears and the illicit substances, and Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning latest is the stuff of classic screwball farce. Although it’s less a 40s-style ‘comedy of remarriage’ (a la Preston Sturges) than a comedy of de-marriage, as the quickie nuptials between exotic dancer Anora (Mikey Madison) and spoilt Russian heir Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) drive the groom’s alarmed family into a mad rush to annul. Baker’s habitual investment in the lives of the marginalised (Tangerine, The Florida Project) is here handsomely rewarded by Madison’s spectacular, unselfconscious performance as ‘Ani’, whose wit and tenacity shine like the rock on her finger. Baker’s none-more-indie dramas haven’t garnered much love from the major gong-givers thus far, but Anora’s on course to put a (red) rocket up this year’s awards race. (ML)
STANDOUT SCENE: Two enforcers become hopelessly, hilariously slapstuck as they unwisely attempt to restrain Ani.
Currently awaiting a home-ent/digital release in the UK
6. Love Lies Bleeding
King of cult John Waters hailed Rose Glass’ neo-noir as the best movie of ‘24, “one that Russ Meyer might have made if he had been a lesbian intellectual addicted to steroids”. Mind you, there’s little of Meyer’s trademark titillation in the genuinely sweet and sensual bond between gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) and new-in-town bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brien, a rising star growing ever brighter). The duo’s true romance is the racing heart of an 80s-set melange of muscles, murder and mullets (shout-out to bad dad Ed Harris’ Crypt Keeper look). A no-sweat, no-compromise follow-up to one of the most distinctive debuts of recent years - 2020’s Saint Maud - this heady, funny, bloody barnstormer is further proof of Glass’ shatter-proof talent. (ML)
STANDOUT SCENE: The attack of the 50ft Jackie. Yep, Russ’ eyes would’ve been on stalks.
Available Prime Video, on DVD, Blu-ray, and to rent and buy digitally
Breakout Star of the Year
Aaron Pierre speaks to Wingman about becoming Disney royalty in Mufasa: The Lion King and the storming success of Rebel Ridge
No other up-and-coming actor has exploded as incandescently this year as 30-year-old Brit Aaron Pierre. He had already been amassing notable credits in the likes of M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, classy sci-fi Foe and Barry Jenkins’ celebrated TV adaptation of The Underground Railroad, but in 2024 he truly announced himself on the scene with the unexpected success of Netflix thriller Rebel Ridge - a great film, and instant-star springboard. He now cements his upcoming reign with the lead voice role in Disney origin story Mufasa: The Lion King (also directed by Jenkins).
He’s also since been booked to star as John Stewart alongside Kyle Chandler’s Hal Jordan in the relaunched DCU’s Lanterns, and he’s also filmed the next season of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show. But for all his success, he’s remarkably humble. “I don’t take myself seriously, but I do take my craft very seriously,” he tells The Movie Wingman. “And that is fuelled from gratitude for audiences gifting us with their time, which is never something they have to do…”
What was your relationship to the original Lion King?
The original Lion King was released the year I was born, in 1994, and that’s a fact that is really special to me. I think the first time I probably watched it was when I was 2 or 3. And, honestly, the average screening of The Lion King for me growing up was about three hours long, because I would sit on the sofa, and the moment something happened [that] I really loved and was excited by, I would run up to the little black box, and I would press the rewind button. I would do that multiple times per viewing. I really loved that film.
Did Mufasa the character make a particular impact on you as a kid?
Most definitely. I’ve heard a lot of people say when discussing The Lion King that Mufasa, to them, feels like everyone’s dad. That was true to me as well.
And in addition to that, The Lion King was a film that had a special place in my heart because it allowed me to feel seen in a way that I hadn’t felt seen and heard in the space of animation prior to that. My mother’s Jamaican, and my father is from Curaçao, which is in the Caribbean, and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Of course, The Lion King is set on the continent of Africa. And that was a really special and important experience for me as a very, very young person. And I really treasured it.
Did having worked with Barry Jenkins beforehand lead into Mufasa? Did you have to audition?
Interestingly, the first time that I heard about this role was in 2020, and I was in the Dominican Republic, filming M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. Barry sent me a text message, along the lines of: “Can you sing?” And, you know, the rest is history.
I did audition. I did read for both Mufasa and Taka [the lion who will become Scar]. Barry was discovering where most of our voices felt most authentic and true. And he landed on Mufasa for me. He reserved that information, that I had formally landed the job, for my birthday. It was a very Barry thing to do. I loved that moment, and it made my day. It made my year.
You’ve thanked Lebo M and Lin-Manuel Miranda for helping you train your singing voice…
You know, they got me there. I’m sure there’s behind-the-scenes footage, somewhere in the world, of me using all of the physical exercises that they taught me to reach those high notes and those low notes. You know, throwing the tennis ball, throwing the baseball… all of these things.
But they really served me. Those exercises really served me in achieving those Disney songs. So I’m very grateful to them.
Could you see yourself doing more singing in the future?
Most definitely. For me, it just requires a lot of focus, and a lot of time, and awakening those particular muscles that are required to do that thing. It’s a very specific set of muscles. Unless you’re actively engaging them often, they kind of go on standby. I would love to do it more in the future.
Rebel Ridge went down a storm on Netflix when it debuted earlier this year, with your performance widely called a star-making turn. Did you sense that potential when the project came to you?
Something you’ll learn about me is, I’m someone who very much focuses on one thing at a time. As it pertains to Rebel Ridge, I have this sort of checkbox system, and it’s: filmmaker, script, and character.
Jeremy Saulnier is one of our greatest living filmmakers. A massive green tick. The script is undeniable. A massive green tick. And Terry Richmond was a gift. A massive green tick.
So for me, I arrived, I [tried] to do my best every day, and I’m deeply grateful for everyone who brought themselves into that project, and guided me, and supported me, and lifted me throughout that process.
That is truly a team triumph. It’s all of our triumph. We all contributed to realising what became the final version of Terry Richmond in Rebel Ridge. So I’m abundantly grateful. And it’s now the people’s. It's now with everyone. And it’s theirs, you know?
What can you say about your character in The Morning Show S4?
The character is a visual artist named Miles, and I’m just having a wonderful time, dude. I’m having a wonderful time continuing to collaborate with phenomenal artists, and learning from phenomenal artists: you know, Jennifer Aniston and Marion Cotillard and Greta Lee and Billy Crudup. I’m relishing this opportunity to be a student, to observe, to learn, to be a sponge, and I’m also having a lot of fun.
Are there any dream roles on your bucket list?
You know what? There is a particular biopic that I began to have conversations about, but that’s about as far as I can go in that conversation. Yes, there is a particular role that I would love to have realised, and to bring them to reality. These things take development. These things take time.
So if we hear an announcement in a few months about a biopic, that will be the dream role?
[laughs] I mean, we’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see. (Matt Maytum)
Mufasa: The Lion King opens in cinemas on Friday 20 December.
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